BB&T, the regional bank based in Winston-Salem, agreed to take over branches and deposits of Colonial BancGroup, after the Alabama bank was shut down by regulators.
Colonial Bank's 346 branches in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Texas will reopen under normal business hours beginning tomorrow and operate as branches of BB&T, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced tonight.
The deal is one of the largest in BB&T's history. BB&T has 40 branches and about 450 employees in Chatham, Durham, Orange, Person and Wake counties.
Colonial, with $26 billion in assets, is the largest in a series of bank failures this year. The company ran into problems after an expansion into Florida saddled it with soured real-estate loans.
BB&T will purchase about $22 billion in Colonial's assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.
The FDIC has closed more than 70 banks this year amid the worst recession since the Great Depression. Typically, the FDIC prefers to seize lenders Friday afternoon, giving the agency the weekend to audit financial records, change signs, shift deposits to a new owner and take other steps to minimize any disruption for customers.
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or